Back Then, I Adored You

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

…

Wu Hao was at a business cocktail party when he received Qin Yinan’s message. After seeing the photographs, he instructed his secretary to stay there in place of him, and he immediately left the party.

When he reached the Nanqing Bar, he mindlessly parked his car by the side of the road, got out, and hurried toward the bar’s entrance. Wu Hao pushed open the door and dashed over to where Xu Wennuan had been seated in the photographs—Other than the two empty wine bottles, no evidence of her being there remained. Wu Hao frowned and, just when he was about to search for her, he saw Qin Yinan point toward the direction of the restroom, and Wu Hao immediately took off for the restroom. Upon reaching the entrance, he caught sight of Xu Wennuan: Her eyes were closed, and she was leaning against the restroom door with a look of agony on her face.

Wu Hao was stunned for a moment as his eyes landed on Xu Wennuan’s hand clutching onto her stomach. He knew at first glance that she was in severe pain. He subconsciously started toward her to take her to the hospital but, before his first step, she had fished out her cell phone from her pocket and, without even looking at the screen, pressed the number “1” to make a speed-dial call.

Who is she calling?

Wu Hao shrank back and began to retreat from the restroom. He could hear the ringtone through her phone speaker and then could vaguely hear it silenced when someone answered the call. He couldn’t hear the words of the person on the other end, but the first thing he heard Xu Wennuan say was “Lu Bancheng…”

Wu Hao’s body froze instantaneously.

In the past, she always complained to me whenever her stomach was in pain. Since when did Lu Bancheng become the first person she calls in an emergency?

After the person on the other end of the phone had not seemed to have replied, Xu Wennuan tapped on speakerphone, raised the volume of her voice, and loudly said, “Lu Bancheng?”

There was a buzzing sound on the other end of the phone and, just when Wu Hao thought that Xu Wennuan would call out Lu Bancheng’s name again, a response finally came across. “Hello,” said a soft, gentle woman’s voice.

Wu Hao subconsciously looked toward Xu Wennuan’s face and, just as he had expected, her expression froze instantly while her fingers clearly began to tremble slightly as she held onto her phone.

Seeing that there was no response from Xu Wennuan’s end, the girl on the other end then said, “Is this Ms. Xu? I’m Guoguo.”

Xu Wennuan returned to her senses and, with her voice now clearly more tense and dry, she responded, “Hi… Hello. I… I’m looking for Lu Bancheng… He… Is he there?”

“Brother Bancheng? He’s taking a bath…” As Guoguo mentioned this, Xu Wennuan’s phone slipped through her fingers and landed on the ground with a thud.

“Hello? Ms. Xu? Hello?” When Guoguo heard the commotion on Xu Wennuan’s end of the call, she repeated the word “hello” a few times and, after no response for several moments, ended the call. Thirty seconds later, Xu Wennuan received an incoming phone call accompanied by a melodious ring tone. Xu Wennuan was immediately drawn back to her senses.

As she squatted down, Wu Hao caught a glance of her phone screen. The call was from “Lu Bancheng.” Xu Wennuan stared at the name on the screen for a long time without answering it. Instead, she lifted her hand and ended the call. As she did this, Wu Hao saw tears rolling down from the corner of her eye.